Lost and Alone
by MirkwoodWarrior2
Summary: Legolas is injured, and Aragorn must help him before it's too late. But how will he manage to save his best friend when they are stranded in the mountains, without the faintest clue of where they are and facing danger at every turn? *First Fanfic, please read and review so I can know if I am doing good!* Rated T for blood, violence
1. Chapter 1

Aragorn stumbled in the snow, blinking the cold flakes from his eyes as he slipped and slid his way to the motionless Elf laying nearby. Despite the cold temperature, he felt uncomfortably warm due to the adrenaline pumping through his veins.

 _Please don't be dead, mellon-nin, hang on, I am coming._

Finally he was at the Prince's side, and with shaking hands he gently turned him over.

Heat radiated from the Elf's skin at such an alarming temperature that it made Aragorn yank his hands away in shock. His clothing, particularly around the lower side and chest area, was soaked with blood, and his skin was so deathly pale that it was almost the same shade as the snow around them. To make things worse, his eyes were closed - something that Elves never dealt with.

Aragorn desperately looked around the area, trying in vain to peer through the thickly falling snow for a sign of shelter. After a few moments, he spotted what looked to be a cave.

 _The Valar knows what could be in there_ , he thought grimly, but he decided that he had no choice. He'd much rather face whatever could be lurking in the cave than Legolas' death. Turning back to his friend, he carefully tried to awake him.

"Legolas, mín baur na (we need to move)," he said softly. The Elf didn't respond, much to Aragorn's dismay. _He usually wakes up easily_ , he thought nervously. He shook him harder. "Legolas!"

The Elf moved slightly, his head turning to the side before his eyelids fluttered open. Aragorn sighed in relief. "It's cold," The Elf muttered finally, his voice weak, and Aragorn smirked before he could help it. "We're in the Carahdas mountains, my friend, or do you not remember? Of course it's cold," He said lightly. There was a pause as Legolas seemed to process what he said, which Aragorn found slightly unnerving. "Can you look at me?" Aragorn asked, and the Prince turned his eyes to Aragorn. The icy blue eyes were slightly unfocused, which Aragorn had suspected - he had seen the Orc hit him with the sword hilt. He certainly had a concussion.

"Okay, we're going to stand up," Aragorn said, looking back up towards the cave. "I'll help you." "I can manage," Legolas said, a streak of determination entering his voice, but Aragorn gave him a stern look. "I admire your attempt, but I think you know as well as I that since I am the healer here and you are injured, I will make the decisions. Wrap your arm around my neck." To his surprise, Legolas didn't make any more protests of the matter - the Elf wordlessly put his arm around Aragorn's neck, his face etched in pain from the movement, and together the two stood.

"We're going to that cave over there," Aragorn said, giving Legolas a moment to get steady. "Once we are in there, I can tend to your wounds." When he received no response, Aragorn looked worriedly at him. "Legolas?" "I'm fine," Legolas said in a gasp. "What is it?" Aragorn asked immediately. Legolas shook his head, waving his good hand as though to say 'it's really nothing', but in the act of doing so he let out a groan of pain.

"I need to sit you back down," Aragorn said, panic rising in his chest. "No, no, we must … walk to the cave …" Legolas said. Aragorn bit his lip as he looked from the cave to where they currently stood. He wasn't sure which would have a better outcome - by putting him back down, he might have much more difficulty getting back up. Quickly he decided that perhaps it would be better to go to the cave, and so he said, "We'll go to the cave, then. Then we'll lay you down. Are you sure you can walk with me?" Legolas managed a nod, and together the two struggled towards the cave. It wasn't too far of a distance, but it seemed like an eternity as Legolas began to slow down, his dead weight making it more difficult for Aragorn to walk. Within minutes the Elf began to mutter incoherently, to Aragorn's shock. _He looks bad, I know he's bad, but how can his condition deteriorate within minutes?_

Finally they reached the cave, and Aragorn warily prepared for an ambush, but nothing came. He thanked the Valar above for at least that much, and quickly proceeded to lay Legolas down. He immediately set to work and gently began peeling Legolas' shirt off, speaking in a soft, soothing tone when Legolas cried out in pain. "Let's see what's up," Aragorn muttered as he removed the shirt, and when he got a view of Legolas' chest he gasped.

He'd been expecting the cuts, blood and bruises that he now beheld, and the extremely deep gash on the Elf's side was to be expected. But Aragorn was not expecting the black, oozing wound that resided right below his left ribcage, the area around it a purplish color as the deadly poison spread through the Elf's system at that very second.

Aragorn sat back, his mind reeling, fear overtaking his mind. He couldn't process the idea that his closest friend had been poisoned, and couldn't process how they had ended up in this situation.

He also couldn't process the sound of the arrow whizzing towards him until it had imbedded itself into his arm.


	2. Chapter 2

Pain erupted in Aragorn's right arm. Shocked, the Ranger barely had time to reach his sword as another arrow bounced off of the wall of the cave, clattering to the ground. Aragorn spun around with his sword raised, his eyes darting around to see who was attacking him.

Although it was dark, it didn't take much for Aragorn to see that it was yet another Orc as the creature moved forwards at an alarming rate, his bow now tossed aside as he drew his sword.

"You think you stand a chance?" The Orc hissed in a gravelly voice as Aragorn stepped

protectively in front of Legolas with his sword at the ready. Aragorn didn't respond, his heart racing as he realized just how poor his conditions were. His arm was throbbing fiercely from the arrow, Legolas was severely injured and delirious, and they were in the middle of nowhere, with no help nearby.

But suddenly, as the Orc came closer, a sort of peace came across Aragorn. Maybe he was alone in this, but after all it was only one Orc, and even if he did have an arrow in his arm he had been in plenty of other battles with worse injuries and had made it out victorious. Legolas needed him, and he wasn't going to let him down. Not if he could help it.

So when the Orc had made his way over to Aragorn, throwing a wild swing at him, he was more than slightly caught off guard as the human blocked it with shocking strength. It was then that the Orc looked up and found himself meeting a pair of dark, collected eyes that looked back at him with no sense of fear whatsoever.

And for some reason, that vaguely disturbed the Orc.

Before the Orc could think, Aragorn released his lock on the Orc's sword and had slashed at the Orc's chest. Black blood began to spill from the gash immediately, and the Orc let out a growl of pain from the unexpected injury, glaring down at the wound in shock. Just that one second of distraction was enough for Aragorn, and he seized the opportunity to stab the Orc in the leg and smash the hilt of his sword against his face.

The Orc fell to the ground in pain, clutching at his leg. When he looked back up, he found a sword tip hovering inches before his face.

"Tell me," the expressionless Ranger said softly; "where you are from, and why you have been following us?"

The Orc spat at his feet as he replied, "Do you think I would tell you, human? Because you are mistaken."

Aragorn merely smiled slightly. "No, I didn't think you would, but it was worth a shot." Then, without hesitation, he plunged the sword inside of the Orc's neck.

After the Orc finished choking on his own blood, Aragorn let out a small sigh and looked at his bloodied arm. Gritting his teeth, he pulled the arrow out and was relieved that it didn't hurt too terribly - but then, he had adrenaline pumping through his veins from the fight. For that much he was thankful.

He knelt next to Legolas again, placing his hand against the Elf's forehead. The fever had worsened, and now the Elf wasn't even moving. He was breathing in short, ragged gasps, occasionally let out a small groan of pain, and the area around his poisoned wound was darker and wider in radius.

His mind racing, Aragorn knew he was running out of time. With fumbling fingers he pulled out his small bag that consisted of numbing and healing herbs he had brought with him from Rivendell, and realized with a sinking feeling that there was no way he could start a fire. The cave was damp and bare, and the snowy mountains certainly had no trees. Even if there were trees, they would be wet and useless.

But despite these hardships, he wasn't going to give up hope. As he prepared the proper herbs and began to try and stop the poison, he recalled the time Lord Elrond had sat him down as a child and talked to him about the importance of confidence in oneself….

 _Aragorn had been practicing archery in the small courtyard on a warm spring day. Despite being relatively good for his first few times at the bow, he still found it irritating as he continuously missed the red bulls-eye, hitting instead the black outer rings._

" _But why do I need to use the bow?" He complained to Elrond only hours before as they ate breakfast. "I like the sword more anyways."_

 _His foster father had smiled at him, taking a swig from his goblet before answering kindly, "Aragorn, it's a good skill to learn. There will be times where you will need to use both weapons, and in certain situations you will need a sword more than a bow. In others, you will prefer the bow over the sword. Each are equally important in battle."_

 _And so Aragorn sighed and proceeded to eat his dinner in silence._

 _Now Aragorn fired yet another shot, and the arrow managed to fly completely pass the target, embedding itself into a tree nearby. Irritated, Aragorn hastily drew another arrow and tried again. But each arrow that followed missed by a farther and farther shot, until finally Aragorn threw his bow down in frustration and sat on the grass, trying hard not to cry._

 _Within minutes he felt hands gently pull him into a hug, and he shoved his face into Elrond's robes._

" _I can't get it!" He sobbed. "I keep trying and trying but for some reason I just keep missing. I-"_

" _Aragorn," Lord Elrond said in a stern but soft voice. "Are you telling me that just because you missed a few times you gave up?"_

 _Aragorn was silent for a minute, and then he said in a timid voice, "I guess so."_

" _My son, you can never give up. Never lose hope. If you keep trying hard at something, and you make yourself believe that you can do something, then you will do it. Promise me you will never stop trying."_

 _And so Aragorn, with a small sniffle and a wipe at the eyes, promised. And when he got himself up and practiced again, telling himself that he can do it, he slowly began to hit the bulls-eye..._

It took many long, painful hours for Aragorn to slow the poison. He was missing many tools that would have helped him to take care of the poison quicker and less painfully, but still, by the time he was almost done he was just thankful it appeared to be working.

First, he had given his friend numbing herbs so that he wouldn't react to any pain when Aragorn would begin his procedure. Because there was no actual water around, Aragorn had to gather snow and hold it in his hands until it began to melt, and then mixed the herbs with the water in the small bowl he always carried for emergencies such as these. The water was cold, but it worked.

Then, he began to practice the Elvish techniques he had been taught back at Rivendell to withdraw poison. Because the poison had been spreading so rapidly through the Elf's body, it took much longer than usual, and was therefore much more painful of a procedure. Halfway through, Legolas began to thrash around due to fever and pain, but he was so weak that he didn't affect Aragorn's work.

When he was finally finished Aragorn leaned back wearily, rubbing his eyes and fighting his growing fatigue. He looked at the wound and was glad to see that it looked a little better. Definitely not close to being healed, but the poison was gone and that was what was important. As for the Elf's other injuries, Aragorn couldn't do that much. He only had a few stitches that he had brought along the journey, and he had used them on the originally poisoned wound. Worried about the blood loss the Elf would suffer from if he didn't do anything, he cut a piece from his cloak and wrapped it tightly about the injury as an attempt to stem the bleeding. The gash certainly deserved much more attention than that, but as of now there was nothing more that could be done. The other injuries looked less life threatening - the bruises and minor cuts were ugly to look at, but they weren't causing any real harm other than pain. Upon further evaluation, Aragorn found that the Elf had a broken rib, but being that it hadn't punctured a lung (Aragorn could tell it hadn't; he could feel where the break was) it also wasn't too serious.

After covering the Elf with the rest of his cloak, Aragorn finally stood up, stretching as he did so. His own body ached something fierce and he found that his arm was killing him again, but he couldn't focus on that right now. He needed to figure out how he was going to get Legolas and himself out of this place and how they could survive. There was no food, no warmth, and enemies seemed to come from every corner.

Looking with some disgust at the body of the Orc he had slain, he removed his sword from the Orc's neck and spent a moment pondering on what he should do with the body. Finally he decided just to bury it under some snow. Normally he wouldn't mind simply throwing the body outside of the cave, but he was weary of another foul creature happening across it - and thereby knowing that people were nearby. He dragged the Orc outside, staying near the entrance to the cave so that he could still listen out for Legolas should he awake, and quickly threw snow upon the body. When the majority of the body was covered (he figured the heavily falling snow would finish his work for him) he smoothed the snow over and, after checking his surroundings to make sure no one was around, he went back inside the cave.

Legolas was sleeping fitfully, constantly turning and muttering under his breath. As Aragorn sat down next to him, taking his friend's hand and squeezing it gently to provide comfort, he found himself glowering over the events that lead to their misfortune.

It was his fault, he felt, that they were here. He had asked Legolas to join him on a trip, just a small travel.

 _They were sitting in the outskirts of a forest, enjoying the sun and eating snacks as they watched the wind blow through trees and talked about their lives so as the other could catch up on what they were doing. Aragorn suddenly proposed the idea of a trip, and Legolas seemed to be interested._

" _To where?" The Elf had asked with a smile, leaning slightly against his bow._

" _Oh, I don't know," Aragorn had responded. "Anywhere. It's been awhile since we have been together, my friend."_

" _Indeed it has," Legolas nodded. "You've been busy."_

" _And you haven't?" Aragorn retorted, but he was smirking as he said so._

 _Legolas laughed in the musical way that Elves do before responding. "Of course I have," He said, "But I always thought that a Ranger such as yourself has tendencies to busy themselves with petty things."_

" _This is besides the point, mellon-nin," Aragorn said with a smile. "Will you accompany me or not?"_

" _Of course, Aragorn," the Prince said, standing up. "It should be fun."_

 _They left early the next day, and before they knew it they were heading towards the Carahdas mountains. Everything went downhill from there._

 _They were attacked, and it came so suddenly and unexpectedly that even Legolas, with his Elvish hearing and sight, didn't know it was coming. The Orcs came in astounding numbers,with fifty of them at the least coming out of nowhere. The horses they were riding were shot and killed, and before they knew it they were facing the Orcs on foot._

 _In the beginning of the battle the two held their own admittedly well. They took down Orcs swiftly, with Aragorn basically hacking his way through left and right and Legolas using his two knives in the way that only Elves could._

 _But then it happened. Legolas was fighting four Orcs at once, and one of them somehow managed to get through Legolas' knives and stab him._

 _Aragorn watched, feeling as though time had frozen as his friend let out a cry of surprise and pain, as another Orc took the opportunity to swing his blade at Legolas' side, and the Elf stumbled back in the snow, falling. Then Aragorn couldn't see him as the Orcs surrounded him, coming in for the kill…._

 _Aragorn raced forward, plowing through the Orcs around him, yelling and just trying to get the Orc's attention away from his friend._

 _When he reached them, he was merciless. He saw only red as he killed them, as he killed all of them, until his vision grew blurry…_

Aragorn blinked as he realized how tightly he was squeezing Legolas' hand, and immediately softened his hold.

"I'm so sorry," He whispered through the darkness and cold of the cave. "I will get us out of this."

He set his jaw, turning his head as he kept his watch on the snow outside.

"One way or another, we will get home."

-

 **So! That's the end to chapter 2!**

 **I hope it's good enough….I literally rewrote four pieces of this chapter some three hundred times ;).**

 **Special shoutout to those who reviewed, followed and gave me such good support! I appreciated each of them and was so happy I got them, you have no idea.**

 **Thanks so much to:**

 **Dean'sAngel6, White Ithiliel, TryniS, Tara07 and Mara jade chase for your support!**

 **New chapter will be coming up soon, I promise! Again, thanks so much!**


	3. Chapter 3

It was cold and dark, but most importantly, it hurt.

That was the first thing that Legolas noticed as he unwillingly began to near consciousness. In all of his life, Legolas never thought he would come to an understanding of the word pain. It was a word that mortals used, a word almost foreign to the Elvish race. In fact, the only 'pain' that Legolas had ever experienced was when the string of his bow snapped against his outer hand and wrist, leaving only a faint scratch that healed within an hour of getting it.

But now, he suddenly understood what pain meant.

With every inhale and exhale, he felt like his lungs were on fire. Even the slightest movement caused a searing pain to flare across his chest, and his entire body ached. He felt like his skull was being smashed in with a hammer and, to make matters worse, his was having a hard time thinking straight.

Opening his eyes after a few minutes, he was first aware of the darkness that surrounded him. Slowly he began to make out his surroundings, noticing the small cave he resided in and the human slumped next to him.

"Aragorn," he said in a soft, raspy voice. He reached out slightly when there was no response, weakly shaking his friend's arm. "Mellon-nin."

"Wha-?" The Ranger mumbled, jerking upright as his hand went to his sword. His eyes flicked around the cave, making sure that nothing was amiss before he relaxed and looked at his friend, a small smile coming across his tired face.

"Ah, Legolas, Lle tyava quel (do you feel well)?" He asked, placing his hand against Legolas' forehead.

Legolas hesitated. "I'm alright." Aragorn rose an eyebrow and Legolas, recognizing the expression all too well, hastily corrected himself. "I've felt better, but it's not too terrible."

"Of course," Aragorn said with a sigh. He removed his hand from his forehead and started to remove the cloak he had thrown over Legolas so he could check his wounds.

"It must be something in the blood of an Elf," Aragorn mused as he began to peel the bandage off of the poisoned injury; "where they simply cannot admit to their pain. Every injured Elf that I have ever come across has tried to tell me that they are in perfect fighting condition - even as blood is spilling from their guts and they are losing consciousness. Probably a pride problem."

Legolas, who had been glowering at him as he spoke, winced as Aragorn began to clean the cut.

"It's not a 'pride problem'", he managed through gritted teeth.

"Oh?" Aragorn said distractedly. "Then what is it?"

When Legolas said nothing, Aragorn smirked. "As I suspected. It _is_ a pride problem."

The smirk faded from his face when he made out the closed eyes and pale features of his friend.

"Legolas? Mani naa ta (What is it)?" He asked worriedly.

"Nothing," Legolas said softly. With a small exhale he opened his blue eyes and looked tiredly at the Ranger, attempting a smile. "Really."

Aragorn sighed and shook his head. "If something is wrong, you need to tell me," he said.

The Elf waved a hand dismissively at the comment. "There isn't anything wrong, mellon-nin."

 _I highly doubt that_ , Aragorn thought to himself, but he didn't push the matter. One could only achieve irritation and silence with an Elf if they were pressed too hard on subjects that they didn't like to speak about, and the last thing Aragorn wanted was Legolas to close up on him. So he simply proceeded to clean and check Legolas' wounds, mumbling an apology every now and then when Legolas grimaced softly in the dark. And then Legolas asked the question Aragorn had been dreading:

"How bad is it?"

Aragorn tried to sound casual, but even in the dark he could tell Legolas could call his bluff. "How bad is what?"

After a rather awkward moment of silence of Aragorn just knowing that Legolas was waiting expectantly, he decided that he might as well just tell him.

"You have a few good injuries, my friend, I must admit. A few broken ribs, some cuts, bruises…"

"You're still hiding something from me," Legolas accused.

Aragorn hesitated, unwilling to admit to the fact that Legolas had a wound that could be considered fatal. After a mental conflict he said carefully, "You have one cut in particular that is more urgent than the rest."

"How so?" Legolas responded calmly, and Aragorn gave up with trying to hide it.

"It's poisoned."

His heart racing, Legolas tried to get himself together at hearing the news. Poisoned? Him? It couldn't be. Certainly not right now, here in this cold cave far away from home. He wanted to argue that this simply wasn't the case, but even as he had those thoughts he could feel the filthy venom pumping through his veins, the heat radiating from his skin.

"What can we do about it?" He asked in what he hoped was a steady voice, but he strongly doubted it, especially when Aragorn reached over and squeezed his shoulder before answering.

"I've already cleaned it to the best of my abilities, and I did my best to squeeze some of the poison from the area. We're just going to have to keep an eye on it for now, and I'll clean it every two hours."

"It doesn't need anything special?" Legolas asked.

"Well, yes, it does," Aragorn confessed, and Legolas felt the small glimmer of hope that had just started to form in his mind vanish.

"But if I keep tending to it, which I will, it should be fine until we get back," Aragorn continued.

"How are we going to get back?"

"We'll find a way." The Ranger said determinedly, and Legolas couldn't help but to admire the way Aragorn could so easily believe they had a chance, even with all of the complications they were facing. His faith in it almost gave Legolas the idea that they really did have a chance, and that thought was comforting.

"Now, you need to rest," Aragorn said as he stood up and stretched. "You've been through a lot, and sleeping will help you recover faster."

"I'm well aware what sleeping does, Aragorn," Legolas remarked with a slightly irritable tone, his eyes closing as he spoke.

"I'll be back," Aragorn went on as though he hadn't said anything. "I'm going to see if there's anything to eat around here. I shouldn't take too -"

Suddenly Legolas' eyes flared open, and he held up his hand to silence Aragorn.

"What? What is it?"

"Hush!" The Elf insisted urgently, and so Aragorn tried to listen to whatever Legolas could hear. Then he heard it. It was very faint, but he could tell that someone - or something - was making its way towards the cave as it trudged through the snow.

Quickly Aragorn got his bow at the ready, the arrow notched and aimed at the entrance. _If this is another Orc, I'm going to lose it,_ he thought wearily to himself. He was done with unfriendly visitors.

The heavy footsteps grew louder and louder, sometimes slowing down as they made their way to the cave, other times hurrying through the snow. Judging from the sounds of the footsteps, Aragorn tentatively decided that it was not an animal - they were standing on two feet.

At last it came to a stop outside of the cave,and Aragorn pulled tighter on the bowstring, ready to fire. Whoever (or whatever) it was was breathing just as heavily as they walked.

Finally, when nothing happened for another two minutes, Aragorn cautiously moved closer to the entrance and peered through the dark and the snow to see who was there.

And he saw him.

Short, tough, and loud, Gimli the Dwarf said gruffly, "Well, I was wondering when you would come out and greet your old friend."

 **Okay, so first of all I wanted to apologize for my little lapse in publishing between Chapter 2 and this one. I was really busy with school work and getting ready for college and such, so I am sorry for that!**

 **Secondly, I really hope you liked this chapter! The ending may have been a bit abrupt but I hope you enjoyed it ;-) trust me, this story is going to get pretty interesting soon …. :D**

 **And thirdly, to all of you who commented, followed me and followed this story, THANKS SOOO MUCH! Each follower/reviewer notification made me SOOOO happy, you have no idea. I PROMISE I WILL UPDATE SOON, AND THANKS FOR FOLLOWING THIS ANGSTY TALE...THAT BY FAR WILL GET EVEN MORE ANGSTY ;-) THANKS AGAIN!**


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